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“ He made his way along 


Page 5 


H I R A N 

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A. Story of a Japanese 

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By REV. JOHN E. HAIL 

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Missionary in Japan 


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Nashville, Xennessee 

The Cumberland Press 

1903 




THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 


APR 11 1903 



COPY B. 


Copyrighted, 1902, 

by thb Board of Publication op the Cumber- 

. « p* <land Presbyterian Chuhch, ... 

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CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER I. p age 

A New Kind of Jesus Way 5 

CHAPTER ii. 

The Foreigner 13 

chapter in. 

The Shisumonkai 17 

CHAPTER IV. 

A Night at Mediya Hotel * 25 

CHAPTER v. 

Why Not Stay ? 31 

CHAPTER VI. 

Impressions 37 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Japanese Prodigal Son 43 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Baptized by Heaven 46 


3 


Contents 


chapter ix. Page 

One Who Stood Outside 51 

CHAPTER x. 

The God Who Cares for Poor People 60 

CHAPTER xi. 

An Idol on Its Travels 68 

CHAPTER XII. 

His Father’s Gods 77 

CHAPTER XIII. 

No More Support 87 

chapter xiv. 

The Way to God’s Country 92 

4 


HIRANO: 

A STORY OF A JAPANESE TOWN. 


CHAPTER I. 

A NEW KIND OF JESUS WAY. 

Gehei having drunk more sake than is 
good for any town-crier, his feet were wan- 
dering back and forth across the narrow 
street as he slowly made his way along. 
What seemed to be an inverted butter bowl, 
decorated with artificial flowers and tall 
feathers, covered his head. As he went he 
repeatedly struck together two small wood- 
en blocks, which he held in his hand, mak- 
ing a sound that carried far, while he an- 
nounced : 

‘There will be a meeting at Mediya 
hotel to-night. A foreigner, a great 
scholar, will tell about the Jesus way. Not 
S 


Htrano : A Story of a Japanese Town* 

the old Jesus way, you heard of before. 
This is a new kind, an interesting kind of 
Jesus way.” 

In a little while the news was spread over 
the greater part of the town by the crier, 
whose tongue was more nimble than his 
feet. 

Gen and Taro were busy throwing small 
red disks on the ground in an exciting game 
of “betta,” the main object of which is to 
turn over the other player’s disks. 

“I am going to see the foreigner. My 
brother says foreigners are eight feet high 
and all of them have red hair and blue 
eyes. He knows. He has been in Osaka,” 
said Gen. 

“So! They must be giants. I’m going, 
too. How can they see anything with 
blue eyes?” 

“See? They can see in the dark!” 

Farther down the street a carpenter, 
with a towel tied around his head and a 
loin-cloth around his thighs, was sitting in 
his shop working on a board, which he 
6 


A Ne<w Kind of Jesus Way . 

held between his toes. He was consider- 
ing, in a slow, sleepy way, whether he 
should go to hear the foreigner. 

A few doors beyond the carpenter’s, the 
grandfather of a household, the Oji San, 
was talking about the foreigner and the 
Jesus way. 

“What country does the foreigner come 
from ?” 

“From England, I think,” replied his son. 

“I’d like to hear him talk. I never heard 
an Englishman talk English. But I don’t 
like to hear anything about Christianity 
because it teaches men to be disloyal, and 
children not to obey their parents. And, 
besides, it is a kind of magic.” 

“Oh, no, it’s no magic. It’s just like 
Buddhism, only they worship different 
gods, that’s all.” 

“Well, I think I’ll go to hear the English- 
man. I always did want to hear the Eng- 
lish language.” 

In the meantime, the foreign missionary, 
Mr. Walters, and his dendoshi, or evangel- 
7 


Hira.no : A Story of a Japanese Town. 


ist, Wasa San, were talking, in their room 
at the hotel, about the town and its possible 
openings for Christian work, when the ne 
san, or servant girl, drew back the sliding 
doors and brought in the supper of egg 
soup, raw fish, beans and rice. After a 
short prayer by the dendoshi, they began 
to eat. They were still talking about the 
place, and the reason why the Congrega- 
tionalists and Episcopalians had stopped 
working in it so long ago, when the shoji, 
or sliding doors, were again pushed back 
and a young man of about twenty entered 
the room. Turning to the foreigner, he 
began abruptly, ‘T)o you spoke English ?” 

"I do,” was the reply. 

“I may practice you the short time in 
English?” 

“Certainly; while I am finishing my sup- 
per you may.” 

“America, is it your country ?” 

“Yes, I am an American,” 

“What is your salary? How much 
money do you receive?” 

8 


The Carpenter at Work.— Page 6. 


• * 



% 


I 


Htra.no : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

“My salary is about what it was when 
I lived in America. Where do you live?” 

“My country is Izumi. Do you know?” 
And so the conversation went on. 

The meal having been finished, the 
dendoshi held out his rice-bowl to the ne 
san to be filled with hot tea, with which he 
would wash down all the remnants of his 
supper that were still left in his mouth. 
Then the ne san took away the little tables, 
and all signs of the meal were gone. 

Mr. Walters invited the student of “Eng- 
lish as she is spoke” to join them in the 
meeting to be held immediately in the as- 
sembly room of the hotel. As the three 
entered the assembly hall they saw that the 
sliding partitions between three adjoining 
rooms had been taken out, and thus one 
large hall had been made. An assorted 
crowd of children, old people, mechanics, 
farmers, tax-gatherers, clothed and un- 
clothed, for the weather was warm, was 
seated inside the hall, on the floor, chatter- 
ing, smoking; joking, and laughing, while 
10 


A New Kind of Jesus Way* 

in the rear, standing on the ground in the 
passage way, was another crowd, made up 
of women and men whose faces could 
scarcely be made out by the help of the 
dim light in the hall. 

Evidently curiosity had brought most of 
the people, though here and there in that 
mass might be hearts longing for a light 
and a life which as yet they knew not, 
nor had ever heard of. As the foreigner 
and the two with him entered the hall, there 
was a lull, like the calm between gusts of 
wind, then the chattering broke out again. 

The missionary spoke in a low tone to 
his evangelist, who then called on the chil- 
dren, who had pushed to the front, to sing 
the national hymn. 

“Our Emperor live 
A thousand cycles, eight thousand, 

Till pebbles are grown 
To moss-covered rocks.” 

Perhaps Sousa’s band would have made 
better music, but they could not have put 

11 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

more vim into it than those village boys 
did. 

“Let us all bow down and be quiet while 
a short prayer is made to the true God,” 
said the dendoshi. The foreigner bowed 
while the evangelist led in a short prayer. 
The others looked on with curiosity and 
some made side remarks. Wasa San, the 
evangelist, spoke first, and for more than 
an hour he preached Christ to the people. 
When he had finished, the missionary rose 
to speak, 

12 


CHAPTER II. 


THE FOREIGNER. 

There was a rustle among the audience 
as the people craned their necks to get 
another good look at Mr. Walters and 
smothered their exclamations as to his great 
height. He read the wonderful story of 
the Prodigal Son, after which he tried to 
repeat the story in colloquial Japanese, so 
that if any were present who did not know 
the written language, they might not fail 
to get the story. Then he explained that 
Christians believed that there was only 
one true God, who had created all things. 
He is the Father of all men. All men are 
his children. Jesus Christ told this story 
of an earthly father’s love in order to show 
the heavenly Father’s love. Then the mis- 
sionary began to point out many particu- 
lars in which a father’s love reveals God’s 
love. 


13 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 


The carpenter, who was still clad in his 
towel and loin-cloth, began to move toward 
the front when the foreigner began to 
preach. His first objective point seemed to 
be one of the tall hotel lamps on the floor 
a few feet away from the speaker. Here 
he stopped, got out a pipe and tobacco 
pouch from some invisible hiding place, 
and seemed about to knock the lamp over, 
as he drunkenly tried to light his pipe. In 
spite of his awkwardness the pipe was lit 
without turning over the lamp, and he sent 
up little wreaths of blue smoke as he stared 
at the preacher. 

A boy near him began to giggle at some 
mistake Mr. Walters made in his language. 
Instantly the carpenter’s hand fell on the 
offender, and his “Damate!” (Shut up!) 
could be heard from one end of the hall 
to the other. The missionary began to 
wish that the drunken fellow had not come. 

As the speaker proceeded, his eye would 
continually return to the carpenter, who 
was gradually edging his way to the front. 

14 


The Foreigner . 


Mr. Walters was telling the story of 
“ ‘Jimmy, ” a prodigal son who had run away 
from his Tennessee home and had never 
returned. With the coming of sorrows 
and the flight of years Jimmy’s father had 
grown crazy. On one subject only did 
his mind remain clear. He remembered 
Jimmy and how he had gone away from 
home. Day and night, summer and win- 
ter, whether the rain fell or it was dry, 
every train that stopped at that little vil- 
lage found the gray-haired old man wait- 
ing at the station to see if Jimmy had come 
home yet or not. The old father had for- 
gotten every one and everything else in 
the world, but he could not forget his child. 

While the missionary was telling this 
story and trying to show how true it is 
that God can never forget his children, the 
carpenter hold his pipe in his hand so long 
that it went out. This time, to light the 
pipe, he moved to the lamp by the side of 
the missionary and there found the neces- 
sary fire. 


15 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

Taro had just given Gen an unexpected 
punch in the side and was gazing with a 
shocked expression on his face at another 
boy, as if that other boy had done the punch- 
ing, when the foreigner stopped. With the 
sudden ending of the sermon Taro started 
guiltily and Gen, who had been puzzled 
for a moment as to whom to punish, re- 
turned the punch with compound interest. 

Wasa San announced that immediately 
following a short prayer they would hold 
a “shisumonkai,” or meeting to ask and 
answer questions on the subjects about 
which he and the missionary had been talk- 
ing, or any other questions which anyone 
might wish to ask about Christianity. 

16 


CHAPTER III. 

THE SHISUMONKAI. 

The missionary stepped forward and pro- 
nounced the benediction in the midst of a 
confusion of sounds made by the people, 
who all seemed to start away all at the same 
moment. 

As he finished, from a corner of the 
room, above the general din, arose the voice 
of the evangelist, announcing the fact that 
he had forgotten to say that he had a lot 
of tracts for free distribution. If anybody 

wanted one There was a rush to his 

corner and it seemed as if a forest of 
hands had suddenly sprung up. 

“No, no, no. I can’t give anything to 
anyone who stands up and holds out his 
hands. You must all sit down or I can’t 
give you anything.” 

Down came the crowd on the floor again. 
As rapidly as he could Wasa San gave out 
17 


Hira.no : A Story of a. Japanese Town* 

the tracts and received the thanks of the 
people, most of whom left. About a dozen 
men remained behind, besides Gen and 
Taro, who this time thought it prudent to 
get near the door, not knowing whether a 
couple of boys would be welcomed or 
not. 

The dendoshi clapped his hands loudly. 
A prolonged “Hei,” sounding very much 
like the cry of a nanny goat, was heard 
from toward the kitchen of the hotel. 
After a time the ne san appeared in order 
to learn the honorable wishes of the mas- 
ter. Wasa San told her to bring in some 
tea for the gentlemen. She glided out, 
got a hibachi, or brazier, full of live coals, 
a kettle of hot water, a teapot, and a suffi- 
cient number of cups. In the proper man- 
ner she prepared the tea and served the 
gentlemen. 

“It is all right now,” said the dendoshi, 
and the girl left the room. It was an as- 
sorted company which composed the shi- 
sumonkai. 


18 


The Shisumonkai, 


The most elegantly dressed gentleman 
in the room turned to the dendoshi and 
remarked: “The foreign gentleman who 
has just spoken possesses a profound 
knowledge of the Japanese language. How 
many years has he been in this country ?” 

“About six years.” 

“Is that all? He has a wonderful com- 
mand of the language. A Japanese could 
never learn the English language so well 
as he has learned the Japanese. It is truly 
remarkable.” 

A chorus of voices chimed in about the 
great, the deep, the extensive, the thorough, 
and the marvelous knowledge of Japanese 
which Mr. Wallace had displayed. The 
evangelist, too, joined the chorus of voices 
praising the foreigner’s excellent use of the 
language. It was embarrassing to the mis- 
sionary; he could only protest, which was 
literally true, that his mouth was most un- 
skillful and poor in speaking their tongue. 

“You must be very much troubled on ac- 
count of having to come to this country. 

19 


■Ulllll 



The missionary rose to speak.” — Page 12. 



The Shisumonkai. 


It is such a dirty, insignificant, little coun- 
try. You must be exceedingly troubled, 
your own country being so great, so beau- 
tiful,” remarked a voice. 

“This is the most beautiful country I 
ever saw,” answered Mr. Walters. 

“So-o. But you must be very lonesome 
without any friends here?” spoke another 
voice. 

“How large the foreigner is,” said one 
voice aside; “he would make two Japa- 
nese.” 

“Yes,” said the evangelist, “I am an av- 
erage sized Japanese, but I look like a little 
boy by his side. What splendid bodies 
the foreigners have.” 

While this sort of conversation was 
being indulged in, pipes or cigarettes were 
gotten out by most of the men and a little 
cloud of tobacco smoke began to fill the 
room. 

“Was Jesus an American?” a voice in- 
quired from behind a pillar of smoke. 

“No. He was an Asiatic.” 

21 


Hira.no : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

“Um, How many gods do you wor- 
ship ?” 

“We believe in and worship only one, 
the true God, whom you sometimes call 
Heaven, who made all things/’ 

“But in a prayer a little while ago you 
worshiped a lot of gods. There was the 
Spirit, then there was another god you 
called the Son, and another you called the 
Father. There may have been some more. 
Besides these, don’t you worship Jesus?” 

“Well, these are all names of the one true 
God.” 

“I see. Where do you keep your god- 
shelf in your home? And how many gods 
do you put on it?” 

“The God we worship is one God, in- 
visible, a spirit, and everywhere we go he 
is. He seeks true worshipers to worship 
him in spirit and in truth. Men’s hands 
have not made him, and we cannot put him 
on any god-shelf.” 

The carpenter, who had been quiet from 
the beginning of the shisumonkai, asked, 
22 


The Shisumonkai . 


“What entrance fee is a man charged who 
becomes a Christian?” 

“There is no charge whatever for be- 
coming a Christian.” 

“How do you worship the Father in 
heaven ?” 

“We speak to him just as a child speaks 
to its parents, and he hears us even though 
we cannot see him.” 

“I was very much interested when you 
were telling about that father who made 
so many sacrifices for his little sick child, 
and you said that he showed what God's 
love is like. My little child became very 
sick and I was much troubled, so I took 
him on my back to the doctor and got 
the medicine he ordered for him. The boy 
did not get better, so I put him on my 
back again and carried him back and forth 
from my house to several temples, but he 
was only getting worse. I spent all my 
rnoney for him. I sat up late at night nurs- 
ing him, and I got up early in the morning 
to take care of him. I stopped my work tq 
23 


Hira.no : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

watch over him. I would have given my 
life to make him well. At last I joined 
the Tenrikyo* and gave them all my prop- 
erty to cure my boy. But they could not 
cure him. Every morning I have prayed 
and every night I have prayed, but my 
prayers have not been heard. I have given 
all I had for help, but there has been no help 
for me.” 

There was silence for a little while as 
the man took up his pipe again. Then, as 
both the evangelist and the missionary 
were about to speak, a voice broke the si- 
lence, asking, “What do you mean when 
you say * Amen ?’ ” 

The meaning was explained. 

“I must go now as I have some very 
important business which I must attend 
to,” said the silk-robed gentleman who had 
been so loud in praise of the foreigner. 

All now began to give like reasons for 
leaving, and took their departure. 

* A faith cure sect of the Shintoists. 

24 


CHAPTER IV. 

A NIGHT AT MEDIYA HOTEL. 

The ne san came in to take away the 
lights and shut up the rooms. The two 
Christian workers went to their- rooms to 
pray over the work of the day, that its 
mistakes might be overruled, and that every 
honest effort made, and every word spoken 
might yield a good harvest in the days to 
come. 

As the missionary was disrobing he 
heard a sound behind him, as though paper 
was being torn, but when he looked be- 
hind him he could see nothing unusual for 
some time. At last he saw that a hole 
had been punched through one of the slid- 
ing, paper-covered partitions between his 
room and the next guest room. Pre- 
sumably this had been done by somebody’s 
finger. Through the hole he could see a 
black eye gazing intently at him as he stood 
25 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

there. When he moved toward the eye, 
it promptly disappeared. Picking up the 
two halves of the basket in which he car- 
ried his personal effects, tracts and books, 
he piled the one half on the other in such 
a way as to cover the hole, and finished 
disrobing, put out the light and went to 
bed. 

It was not long before the missionary 
was sweating and rolling on his futons, 
or mattresses, under the low, close, dark 
green mosquito net. This hung so low 
over the bed that he could push up the top 
of it from where he lay with his hands. It 
was hot. He could not forget the meet- 
ing, try as he might to put it out of his 
mind. Why did the people compliment his 
bad Japanese and seem so little interested 
in his message? Did he really do any 
good by his efforts? Was that carpenter 
in earnest in his remarks, or was he only 
half drunk? Wasn’t the general effect of 
the meeting bad and not good ? 

He did not sleep well. A mosquito got 
26 


A Night at Mediya Hotel. 


inside the net and did a humming business. 
A Japanese flea crawled out of his hiding 
place in the top futon, and, small as he 
was, the missionary had to scratch to 
keep up with him. Next some rats began 
to make a rattling noise in the low 
ceiling. Then a baby, away off some- 
where, began to cry and refused to be com- 
forted. Then a cat began to wail mourn- 
fully. Then the man was asleep again. 
Now he thought the wind was blowing a 
gale, but, as he gradually waked up, the 
gale turned into the noise of the rats 
scampering up and down the low ceiling. 
He wondered if the rats were running 
races, and tried to find out how many 
there were of them by counting the differ- 
ent noises they made. Before the rats were 
counted his mind was in America. An 
episode in his life as a young theological 
student, boarding in a hospitable country 
home one vacation, kept coming into his 
mind. His hostess’ little four-year-old 
boy, Johnnie, had his first pair of trousers. 

27 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

They were little knickerbockers, which 
looked as if they might have been made 
out of a handkerchief, but how proud the 
little boy was! Johnnie wanted to swim 
in the branch which ran through the 
meadow, where the cows were grazing, but 
his mother forbade his going near it. Not 
that there was the slightest danger of his 
drowning, for there was scarcely enough 
water in it to drown a newly hatched chick ; 
she did not want him to get wet and dirty. 
But Johnnie ran off to the tiny stream, took 
off his precious new clothes, and began to 
paddle in the water. Then an old cow 
came down and scared him away and ate 
up the new knickerbockers. The first that 
Johnnie’s mother and the young theologue 
knew of the matter was when Johnnie came 
toward them, sobbing out the news as if 
his heart would break. “The old cow — hu 
— hu — ate up — hu — hu — my — hu — 
hu — new pants!” 

The missionary started. His hand had 
touched something cold. What was it, a 
28 


A Nighi at Mediya Hotel . 


snake, a rat? He put out his hand very 
cautiously. It was his watch, which in 
some way had slipped out from under the 
futon that had been rolled up for his pil- 
low. Once more, back from American 
scenes, he was sweltering and worrying in 
the midst of mosquitoes and fleas. Really 
there were not many mosquitoes, nor many 
fleas, but each was a host in himself. 

The longest nights have an end, and 
those who say they cannot sleep usually 
sleep more hours than they are aware of. 
Dawn began to creep in through the cracks. 
First the sounds of people stirring, fol- 
lowed by a medley of screaking, bumping 
noises, began to rise, as the servant girls 
began pushing back the wooden walls which 
had kept the house safe from thieves dur- 
ing the hot night. Glad that daylight had 
come, Mr. Walters was soon dressed and 
down at the hotel toilet room, if such that 
out of doors washjng place may be called. 

Three brass wash bowls rested on a 
wooden stand, while just to the right was 
29 


Hira.no : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

a large bucket of clear water. A shelf, in 
easy reach, hung from the low roof back 
of the stand, and on it were the tooth- 
brushes and salt generously provided by 
the landlord for those of his guests who 
might wish to wash their teeth. 

Refreshed by his ablutions the mission- 
ary returned to his room. It had been 
emptied of mosquito net and bedding, and 
nicely swept, while he was making his 
toilet. A little kettle was simmering over 
the bright coals in a hibachi, while by the 
brazier were placed the utensils for making 
tea. 


30 


CHAPTER V. 

WHY NOT STAY? 

The sliding doors were pushed back, 
Wasa San entered, and began the usual 
polite inquiries by saying, “Since last night 
honorably tired, are you not?” 

After the set “orei,” or polite salutations, 
had been made, Mr. Walters asked, “What 
are those fish heads I saw nailed up over 
the doors of so many of the houses in 
Minabe? I have seen them in several vil- 
lages, but I never could understand what 
they were for.” 

The dendoshi laughed. “Oh, they are 
to prick the devil’s nose. Did you notice 
that all those fish heads were surrounded 
by sharp stickers? You see the people be- 
lieve that the dev ; l likes fish, and when 
he is going about the streets of the town, 
whenever he smells one of those fishes he 
flies straight to it, as fast as he can go, 
31 


Hira.no : A Story of a. Japanese Town. 

and tries to take a bite, but the thorns 
stick his nose and he flies away from that 
house, and won’t go near it until he comes 
to the town next time.” 

“Well, it seems to me that the devil is 
very foolish if he doesn’t learn after a 
few such experiences to let those fish heads 
alone.” 

The ne san entered with a breakfast ex- 
ceedingly like the three meals which the 
Christian workers had eaten the day be- 
fore, and the day before that, and each 
day since they had left home. As break- 
fast was ending, Mr. Walters asked the ne 
san to bring the go kanjo, or honorable 
bill. When it was brought in, the mis- 
sionary noticed that after the regular cus- 
tom every article they had touched, or had 
not touched, had been charged for. He 
laid down the amount of the bill, together 
with the extra gratuity, or chadai, which 
custom from the dim past has decreed must 
be given. 

“What is this extra money for,” asked 
32 


Why Not Stay ? 


the ne san, with a look of surprise, as if 
she had never seen such a thing done be- 
fore. 

“That is the chadai.” 

“Oh! thank you, exceedingly. ,, 

Near the hotel door Mr. Walters was 
putting on his laced shoes, which opera- 
tion was being watched by the hotel people 
with polite interest. A servant girl had 
offered to lace the shoes, but her offer 
had been declined. 

While Mr. Walters was thus engaged, 
Wasa San turned to the landlord and said, 
“I did not see you at the meeting last night.” 

Fetching up a cough with some effort, 
the landlord replied, “I was terribly troubled 
because I could not go, but unfortunately I 
had a very bad cold and could not attend 
on that account.” 

“It was truly a great misfortune that you 
were suffering with such a terrible cold. 
But you ought not to refuse Christianity 
before you know what it is. I saw a farmer 
in Osaka last week. It was his first time 
33 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 


in the city. He was very tired and hot 
and thirsty, so he stopped in at a tea-house 
and asked if they had any cold drink. 
They told him that they had some bottles 
of lemonade, which had been lying on ice. 
He ordered a bottle. But when they pulled 
the cork and it came out with a pop, the 
noise startled him. Then when he saw it 
foaming, and vapor rising from the top 
of the cup which they poured the lem- 
onade into, he wouldn’t touch it. He got 
very angry and said, ‘Do you think I am 
going to drink that hot stuff ?’ 

“ ‘It’s not hot. It’s ice cold,’ they said. 

“ ‘You can’t fool me into thinking that 
that isn’t hot! I can see it boiling with 
my own eyes and I can see the steam com- 
ing off of it. You can’t fool me.’ 

“So he paid the bill, but he wouldn’t 
touch the lemonade. Now don’t be like 
that man and refuse Christianity before 
you know what it is. I tell you that Chris- 
tianity is a good thing for you and for the 
country.” 


34 


Why Not Stay ? 


“Thank you. Yes, Christianity is a very 
good religion,” said the landlord politely. 

Then, as the travelers left the hotel, the 
proprietor and all the servants followed 
them to the door with good wishes for 
a pleasant trip and a speedy return. 

As the two men walked toward the sta- 
tion, Mr. Walters thought he recognized 
in the crowd which tagged after them two 
of the boys whom he had seen at the meet- 
ing the night before. He was certain of it 
when one of them came to him in the third- 
class waiting room at the station and asked 
him for the loan of a Jesus book. The mis- 
sionary gave the boy a paper bound copy 
of the gospel of Luke, which he happened 
to have in his pocket. 

“How would you like to have a Sunday 
school here?” asked the big foreigner. 

“I would like it very much,” said Taro. 
He did not have the slightest idea of what 
a Sunday school was, but he thought that 
such an answer would please the foreigner. 

“Would you attend the school?” 

35 


Hira.no : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

“Yes.” 

“And would you bring the other boys, 
your friends?” 

“Yes.” 

The opening of the platform gates broke 
up the conversation. The train came, tar- 
ried a few moments and was gone. 

On the train Wasa San remarked that 
it would be much better to spend a week 
at a place like Hirano, where there were no 
Christians, in order to follow up the im- 
pressions which were made at the first 
meeting, than to do as they were doing. 

Mr. Walters agreed that that would be 
the wisest course, but tried to point out 
that the funds were too limited for them 
to do that and yet visit all the needy places. 
But it was hard to get the evangelist to 
understand that there could be any failure 
on the part of rich Americans to provide 
the comparatively small amounts needed to 
make longer stops at the different places on 
their circuit. 


36 


CHAPTER VI. 


IMPRESSIONS. 

In Hirano the meeting made different 
impressions on different people. 

The Oji San was greatly pleased over 
the fact that he had understood nearly 
everything the foreigner had said. 

“Why, I understand the foreigner quite 
well. I am so glad that I went to hear him. 
I understood him very well. I didn’t know 
the English language was so very much 
like the Japanese.” 

A roar of laughter from the other mem- 
bers of the family disconcerted the old man 
for a minute. 

“What are you all laughing at ?” 

“Why, Oji San, the foreigner didn’t talk 
in English at all. He talked in Japanese 
altogether.” 

“So-o. I thought it was the English lan- 
guage he was using all the time.” 

In another place the silk-robed gentle- 
37 


Hira.no : A Story of a. Japanese Town. 

man who had been so loud in his praise 
of the foreigner’s Japanese, was laughing 
over his blunders. 

“Did you notice that he said Jesus had 
committed murder in Judea for the sins of 
all the world? Well, he meant to say that 
he was murdered. Then do you remember 
how he said that his fellow countrymen 
like to take a sharp knife and skin good 
children and eat them? That was the fun- 
niest mistake. I couldn’t imagine what he 
meant for a long time, but I know now. 
He said kodomo for kudamono. He meant 
to say, ‘Take a sharp knife and pare good 
fruit and eat it/ ” 

The carpenter had poured cold water 
over his body, and gone through all the other 
rites of the Tenrikyo, as he worshiped their 
gods that morning after the meeting, and 
then he prayed to the Christian’s God, 
“Father, hear me and save my little boy.” 
After that he went through his daily round 
of toil and bargaining with a lighter heart 
than for a long time past. 

38 


Impressions. 


Among those who attended the meeting 
at the hotel was a young man, Banno 
San, who was intensely interested in what 
he heard. When the tracts were distrib- 
uted at the close of the meeting, Banno 
San received a paper bound copy of Mat- 
thew. In his home, a quarter of a mile 
away from the village, Banno San spent 
many hours poring over the book. He 
was spellbound. It was the most deeply 
interesting book he had ever read. To 
be sure, it was very, very hard to under- 
stand. But when he came to the passage, 
“Love your enemies, bless them that curse 
you, do good to them that hate you, and 
pray for them that despitefully use and 
persecute you,” he was carried away with 
the thought. “It is wonderful. It must be 
the truth.” Through the days which sped 
by there was constantly running through 
his mind, like a rippling brook, the words, 
“Love your enemies, bless them that curse 
you.” 

Though there was no one to instruct 
39 


\ 

Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

him, no one to explain the difficult passages 
in the book he had so quickly learned to 
love; and though his knowledge of Chris- 
tianity was so limited, yet he was con- 
vinced that a teacher who taught such won- 
derfully beautiful truths must be the teach- 
er of men. 

Under the passage he could not under- 
stand he pasted little pieces of red paper, 
so that when the missionary came back he 
could instantly find the hard verses and 
have the meaning made clear. 

Banno San’s father and mother were 
Buddhists ; being their only son, he had al- 
ways had his own way. Now he met op- 
position in the home as he began to make 
known his growing belief in Jesus. His 
father was rather indifferent to the whole 
matter, but his mother was certain that if 
he forsook their gods and the gods of 
their fathers, some awful disaster would 
overtake not only him, but also the whole 
house. 

Banno San’s home was not the only place 
40 


Impressions , 


into which Christ sent a sword, in which 
one member of a family was arrayed 
against another. The Oji San, who went 
to the meeting for the sake of hearing an 
Englishman speak the English language, 
brought home a tract telling about the es- 
sentials of Christianity. His son, Jutaro, 
who had guarded the house while the 
others went to the meeting, read the tract 
and pronounced Christianity to be really 
not a bad religion for either country or 
family. The Oji San, while admitting that 
nothing very objectionable had been said 
in the Christian meeting which he had at- 
tended, except the statement of the for- 
eigner that Jesus had committed murder, 
yet maintained that Christianity ought not 
to be permitted in the country. Chris- 
tianity certainly taught disloyalty to the na- 
tion and disobedience to one's parents. Be- 
sides, it was a bad system of magic. 

“My grandfather told me that his wife's 
uncle once read about something a Chris- 
tian did. It was in the summer time and 
41 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

the Christian wanted some snow, so he 
called for a dish, and, after he got it, he 
said something and threw it into the air. 
A cloud came down and carried off the 
dish. In a very short time the dish came 
back with snow piled up high in it. 

“Another time he saw a long black box. 
They called it a Christian box. If there 
was anything you wanted to see, you 
turned the box around while you were 
peeping into it with one eye, and there 
were the things you were wondering 
about. Christianity is a bad, dangerous 
religion.” 

Jutaro was silent, for he could not prove 
by eye-witnesses that Christianity was not 
a system of magic, but he was resolved 
in his heart to study the new religion more 
thoroughly, 


42 


CHAPTER VII. 

THE JAPANESE PRODIGAL SON. 

Taro, Gen, and a lot of other boys about 
their age were engaged in a boisterous 
game of onigoto, or devil-doing, one morn- 
ing at recess, when Jutaro was .passing the 
public school on an errand. Jutaro stopped 
to watch the boys at their game. He no- 
ticed at his feet a soiled paper book. He 
stooped down, picked up the book, and 
looked at it. It was a very dirty, torn, 
paper-backed copy of the Gospel of Luke. 
Jutaro saw, after examining it, that he had 
evidently found a book which told many 
things about Jesus and Christianity which 
he could not find in the tract the Oji San 
had brought back from the -meeting. 

He put it into his sleeve and left the 
play-ground. That night, after supper, he 
began to read the book. He had to read 
slowly, for everything in the book was so 
43 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

strange, and many of the phrases were so 
unusual, that it took much time to make 
out the meaning in some places. In other 
places he could understand nothing. 

He read on past midnight, into the early 
hours of the morning. At last he laid the 
book down. When he read the accounts 
of the different miracles which Christ 
wrought, what the Oji San had said about 
Christianity being a system of magic kept 
coming into his mind. But if Jesus used 
magic, he also taught some splendid things. 
The parables he thought were very good, 
particularly the parable of the Good Sa- 
maritan, though there were some things he 
did not understand in the story. The best 
story, he thought, was the story of the 
Prodigal Son. It reminded him of a 
Buddhist story he had read once about an- 
other prodigal son. 

In that story the boy, by his sins, had 
reduced his parents to poverty, and was 
so bad that a council of their friends was 
called to decide what should be done with 
44 


The Japanese Prodigal Son . 

him. At- the time he was on a wild carouse, 
but he returned home before the family 
council had ended. He put his ear against 
the crack in the door and listened. He 
heard every one present say that as 
he was so worthless and bad, only one 
thing could be done, he must be turned 
out of house and home, his parents must 
never own him again. There was a silence. 
Then his old gray-haired mother rose and 
said, “He is my boy, my only son. I can 
never close my home to him.” The old 
father added, with a trembling voice, “He 
is our boy, and though he turns his back on 
us, and breaks our hearts, and sends us to 
the grave, we can never turn away from 
him.” 

Jutaro stopped at the end of Christ’s 
story of the Prodigal Son. He did not feel 
like reading more that night, 

45 


CHAPTER VIII. 

BAPTIZED BY HEAVEN. 

In Banno San’s home the crisis soon 
passed. 

One morning he announced that he was 
a Christian. His mother cried; his father 
said but little. Following his confession of 
Christ he said that he was going to burn 
his idols and Buddhist books. His mother 
begged him not to do this, but he was firm 
in his resolve. 

He kindled a fire and put the idols in 
one by one. It was with a good deal of 
trepidation that he put in the first idol, 
but as no harm came from it he put in 
the others with great boldness. His mother 
refused to witness the sacrilege. His Bud- 
dhist books went in next. The last one he 
put into the fire was bound with a sub- 
stance that glistened in the sunlight as he 
held it in his hands. His mother, when 
46 



“A new shrine was built.” — Page 75. 


Htrano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

she gave him that book, had warned him 
to be exceedingly careful of it, for it had 
been given her by a very holy priest, who 
had told her to take great care of the book, 
for how they cared for it would affect their 
household greatly. He looked at the book 
for a minute, then threw it into the hot 
fire. There was a crackling noise and 
sparks began to fly. Banno San jumped, 
moved toward the door, then, with a foolish 
look on his face, came back and took his 
seat. The deed was done ; he was a Chris- 
tian, with all his idols burned behind him. 

When he went to the tobacco shop that 
afternoon, with the zeal of a new convert, 
he began to talk to the clerk about Christ, 
and finally he told his secret — he was a 
Christian. 

“You’re no true Christian. You haven’t 
been baptized, have you?” 

“Well, no; I haven’t been baptized. I 
don’t know just how it is done.” 

“My friend told me how it is done. He 
saw some Christian believers baptized once. 

48 


Baptized by Heaven. 

They just pour some water on their heads, 
that’s all. But you aren’t a real Christian. 
You can’t be till you are baptized. . . . 
Did you read the newspaper report that 
250 people were drowned at Kobe yester- 
day? A big ship sank. It is terribly un- 
fortunate.” 

On his way home Banno San was a good 
deal depressed over the idea that he was 
not a real Christian. Without his idols, 
without the Christian God, adrift with 
nothing to cling to, was that his fate? 

He went to his room and began to read 
his beloved book once more. He read how 
John had baptized Jesus. He read the 
Sermon on the Mount, paying but little 
attention to the words he was reading. He 
was certain that he was a disciple of Christ, 

but That but, suggested by the clerk, 

kept rising in his mind. He began to think 
of how far short he came of Jesus’ require- 
ments. After all, what right had he to say 
that he was a Christian? Suddenly, the 
words of the angel entered his mind, “Thou 
49 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 


shaft call his name Jesus, for he shall save 
his people from their sins.” Jesus, a Savior 
from sin! For some unaccountable reason 
his heart was light and joyous again. Then 
he noticed for the first time how dark it had 
grown. The clouds had gathered while he 
was meditating, and the rain had begun to 
fall. His face lit with joy. Heaven was in- 
viting him to come. He would be baptized • 
by the hands of heaven. He walked out into 
the midst of the falling rain, and, standing 
in reverential attitude, confessed Christ be- 
fore the world, and received the holy or- 
dinance from the hand of the Creator him- 
self. 

The next day Banno San told the tobacco 
clerk that he had received baptism. 

The clerk asked, “Who baptized you?” 

“Heaven,” he replied. 


50 


CHAPTER IX. 


ONE WHO STOOD OUTSIDE. 

Among the crowd which listened to the 
preaching of God’s love that eventful night 
at the Mediya hotel, was a poor coolie. He 
had not ventured to go inside the building, 
but only stood at the door, where such 
miserable offscourings of the earth as he 
was were expected to stand. His name 
was Genski Tokuzo, but his master, Baba 
San, never called him anything but Genski. 

Ever since he could remember he had 
worked in an umbrella factory. He had 
never been taught to read or write. All 
of his life he had been used to abuse. For 
a month’s toil he received his daily rice 
and fifty sen. His master was not a cruel 
or hard-hearted man, as umbrella manu- 
facturers go, rather the reverse. He was 
quite progressive. Over his one-story um- 
brella factory he had placed not only the 
51 


Hira.no : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

customary Japanese announcements, but a 
sign-painter, who was skilled in wording 
and painting English signs, had prepared 
for him a large sign-board reading — 

A Very Good Umbrella Sell. 

While it is true there were no English- 
speaking people in Hirano to be attracted 
by the sign-board, it nevertheless marked 
the place as the most progressive estab- 
lishment in the town. 

Genski did not get all that was said 
in the meeting. He was so far away from 
the speakers that he did not hear many 
things which were spoken. Besides, there 
was more or less confusion and talking 
around him all of the time. He carried 
away from the meeting two impressions. 
One was that foreigners were very large. 
The other was that there was a God some- 
where who cared for poor people. At first 
Genski was more impressed by the for- 
eigner’s size than by anything else. He 
talked about it with his fellow coolies. 

52 


One Who Stood Outside, 


Various speculations were advanced to ac- 
count for foreigners being so much larger 
than Japanese. Some thought it was due 
to the wine they drank. One had heard 
that they ate meat, and he was sure that 
was the reason. Whatever the cause might 
be it was certain that the foreigner was 
larger than any Japanese Genski had ever 
seen, excepting some professional wrestlers. 

Genski’s life was one round of grinding 
toil. Treated like a dog, made to work 
from morning till night every day in the 
week, it was only on a rare matsuri, or 
holiday, that he was allowed to rest. About 
the happiest time he had was at the end 
of the month, when he received his pitiful 
wages and, getting as drunk as he could, 
felt himself as rich as the whole Mitsui 
family, and forgot all his troubles. The 
next day his body felt badly and his work 
was miserably done. Next in enjoyment 
to his monthly carouse was the bath, par- 
ticularly in cold weather. During the win- 
ter weather Genski never had a chance to 
53 


Hira.no : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

get warm until he got into the hot water 
at the public bath-house. 

From pondering over the size of the 
foreigner, Genski began to think about his 
message. He could not remember the 
sermon he had heard, but the impression 
was fixed in his mind that there was a God 
somewhere who cared for all poor people 
and who wished to do them good. Just 
what kind of good this God wanted to 
do them he was not sure. Probably he 
wanted to give them enough to eat and 
drink and wear. He could hardly be a 
very great God to care much for people like 
Genski, but he must be very kind-hearted. 
Genski was wondering what name this God 
who cared for the poor bore, when his mas- 
ter’s little girl, O Uta, came to the door 
and called to him, “Genski, come. Father 
wants you at once.” 

O Uta had been thinking about that Jesus 
she had heard the Japanese evangelist 
speak about at the meeting at the hotel. 
Who was Jesus? What country did he come 
54 


One Who Stood Outside. 

from? Which god’s only son was he? 
Why did the people kill him? It was re- 
markable how much the child remembered, 
and even understood, of what Wasa San 
had said. 

Taro was passing, and when he saw the 
little girl he called out, “O Uta San, have 
you heard the news ? The foreigner is back 
again and they are going to have another 
Jesus meeting at the hotel to-night. I’m 
going.” O Uta resolved in her mind that 
she also would go. The foreigner was 
a great curiosity, and, besides, for some 
reason, she wanted to hear more about that 
Jesus. 

To-day the town-crier was worse drunk 
than usual, and did not cover more than 
half his usual route, although when he 
got back he demanded ten sen extra for 
making the announcements. 

Till after supper time a stiff breeze blew 
through the town and the air became very 
chilly and damp. As a result of this, when 
Wasa San and Mr. Walters came into the 
55 


Hi ran o : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

rooms which had been opened for the serv- 
ice, they saw an audience which, compared 
with the previous one, was disappointingly 
small. Mr. Walters, however, was too tired 
to be disappointed. That day he had writ- 
ten a large number of letters to America 
and mailed them just too late to catch the 
mail steamer ; he had attended two sodans,* 
or gab-kwais, as he called them, where 
there had been some apparently intermina- 
ble discussions over the most trivial mat- 
ters, to which he had been required to give 
his undivided attention ; he had made some 
pastoral visits ; he had explained and re- 
explained some passages of Scripture to 
the dendoshi. There had been a long rail- 
road trip, in which the only relief he had t 
gotten was in watching the men in the 
coach fan their bare legs. At first he 
thought they did this too cool themselves, 
but he soon saw that it was done for the 
purpose of driving away the mosquitoes. 


* A meeting held to discuss some particular subject in 
a friendly way. 

56 


One Who Stood Outside . 

I ♦ 

Back of that day there was a week of trav- 
eling, of bad food, of long night meetings, 
and of many house to house visits during 
the hours of daylight. 

This time, when Wasa San asked the 
people to bow their heads and remain quiet 
while prayer was made to the true God, 
while no one’s head was bowed excepting 
the missionary’s, there were no side remarks 
made. The missionary noticed that a coolie 
was standing outside the door and went to 
him and invited him. Genski refused to 
enter at first, but afterwards came just to 
the edge of the room. The carpenter had 
put on a shirt out of respect to the occasion, 
and was sitting next to the speaker. 

O Uta, O Ye, Hara San and several other 
little girls were sitting in front, opposite 
the carpenter, watching everything that 
took place. 

Clustered around the Carpenter were the 
boys, Taro, Gen, and several of their 
schoolmates. The Oji San, who had at- 
tended the previous meeting, in order to 
57 


Hira.no : A Story of a Japanese To<wn . 


hear the English language spoken, was 
again present, strange to say. Besides 
these, there were only two or three women 
and four or five men in the house. 

Somehow, everything seemed to go the 
wrong way. The boys were restless and 
kept punching and pinching each other. 
They seemed to pay no attention to the 
evangelist as he spoke. One of the little 
girls went to sleep. A couple of grown 
people left before the dendoshi finished. 
There was apparently an awakening of in- 
terest when Mr. Walters preached, though 
his sermon was not so good as Wasa San’s. 

The evangelist announced that for awhile 
he would conduct Sunday school and 
preaching services every Sunday afternoon. 
He invited those present to come and bring 
their friends. After tracts had been given 
out another inquiry meeting was held. 

The Oji San asked about the foreigner, 
what he ate, what he wore, how old he was, 
if he had left America to escape military 
service, and a number of similar questions. 

58 


One Who Stood Outside * 

I ♦ 

But after awhile he asked some questions 
about Jesus Christ and Christianity. When 
he was through, no one else seemed to have 
any questions to ask, so the meeting closed 
at a comparatively early hour. Every one 
left the hotel except Genski, who still stood 
waiting outside the door. Something 
prompted the evangelist to go to the coolie 
and speak to him. 

The missionary saw that the two men 
were talking together quite earnestly, so 
he went to his room. An hour passed and 
still he saw no signs of Wasa San, so he 
retired for the night. The next day Wasa 
San told him that the coolie was much in- 
terested in the Jesus way and had talked 
with him until after one o’clock about Jesus, 
trying to understand the truth about God 
and Christianity, 


59 


CHAPTER X. 

THE GOD WHO CARES FOR POOR PEOPLE. 

The following Sunday Wasa San was 
face to face with a crowd of boys and 
girls, who for the first time in their lives 
were in a Sunday school. The Sunday 
school was held in a small room in the 
poorest part of the town, such as could 
be rented at a very low price, for there was 
little money which the rich Americans 
could spare for such purposes. 

Wasa San tried to get his restless, mov- 
ing audience quiet. After their spirits 
seemed to calm a bit, he offered a short 
prayer. Now how should he begin? What 
should he say to these children? For a 
minute he hesitated, then said : “I am go- 
ing to tell you how God made the first 
man.” At the prospect of a story the chil- 
dren were all quiet. 


60 


The God Who Cares for Poor People . 

“A long, long time ago there were no 
men. So one day God was walking around 
and he thought he would make a man. So 
he took some clay and poured water over 
it, and then he chopped up a lot of straw 
real fine and mixed the straw and water 
and clay all up together this way. Then 
he took his hands and made a man out of 
the clay this way, and set him up to dry. 
By and by God went up to the man, when 
he was real dry, and puff! he blew into 
his mouth, just this way, and then the man 
breathed and talked and lived, just as you 
do.” 

“Is that the way God made foreigners?” 
inquired Taro. 

“Oh, yes.” 

“Umph. Maybe he made foreigners out 
of dirt. He made Japanese out of better 
stuff than that!” 

“Wouldn’t all of you like to learn a 
hymn ?” 

“Oh, yes ! oh, yes !” replied a lot of voices 
at once. 


61 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

“Let’s learn the one about the Happy 
Land first. It begins this way — 

‘There is a happy land, 

Far, far away.’ ” 

Before they left the Sunday school that 
day most of the children had learned the 
song. It caught O Uta’s heart, and as 
she went home, she found herself humming 
th$t song the whole way. It seemed to 
her as if that happy land could not be 
very far away, even though the song said 
so. 

A meeting for grown up people followed 
that for the children. About half a dozen 
people were present. Among them were the 
Oji San, Genski, and the carpenter. Genski 
had been sent by his master to carry some 
bundles to a store on the other side of the 
preaching place from the umbrella factory. 
On his way back Genski stopped to listen 
and then inquire about the way of Christ. 
The Oji San and the carpenter, also, had 
many things to ask. At last the evangelist 
62 


The God Who Cares for Poor People ♦ 


was compelled to dismiss them, as he had 
a night appointment in a town a few miles 
away. 

Before Genski got back to the shop, he 
had invented a very plausible lie to explain 
why he was so slow in returning. 

The Oji San returned to his home si- 
lently,' and had so little to say to anyone 
that the home people began to ask him if 
he was sick. 

The carpenter returned, determined for 
the present to worship only one God, the 
God whom the Christians called Father. 

That night Genski prayed, and his 
prayer was : 

“God, who cares for poor people, please 
care for a poor coolie like me.” 

Sunday after Sunday passed by and 
slowly grew the seed which had been 
planted in some hearts. Sometimes Mr. 
Walters, sometimes Wasa San, took charge 
of the Sunday school and preaching serv- 
ices. Once when the two came together they 
had an especially good meeting. The chil- 
63 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

dren learned rapidly. They were soon 
singing— 

“Jesus loves me, this I know, 

For the Bible tells me so,” 

and several other sweet hymns. So their 
childish voices told the Gospel story in 
song in more than one home. Was the 
message which the children unconsciously 
bore understood? No; the story of love 
which they sang seemed to carry no new 
life into those homes. Hard drudgery and 
superstition still reigned there supreme. 

One Monday, Wasa San had some news 
about the work in Hirano. The first fruit 
of their seed sown was evident, but it was 
not much, only an ignorant coolie. Genski 
had declared himself a believer in Christ, 
but he was troubled in regard to one thing. 
He wished help and advice about that. In 
becoming a Christian he could readily give 
up his sake, but how about working on 
Sunday? He had to work every day in 
the year for his master. What could he 
64 


The God Who Cares for Poor People . 


do? If he should refuse to work on Sun- 
day, Baba San would dismiss him, and 
then he could get work nowhere else. Be- 
sides, he was forty years old, too old to 
learn a new trade. He only knew how to 
do his work in the umbrella factory. 
Could he not continue his Sunday work 
and yet become a Christian? 

Pity welled up in Mr. Walter’s heart 
for the poor ignorant coolie, whose scant 
daily rice and fifty sen a month was all 
that stood between him and starvation. 
How important that wee mite must seem to 
the poor coolie. Mr. Walters said that he 
could give no advice in the matter; Gen- 
ski must decide for himself. 

Genski, to whom the matter seemed as 
one of life and death, felt unfairly treated 
and deeply disappointed when he found 
that the decision must be made by himself. 
What should he do? He tried to think of 
some way out of the dilemma, but no way 
presented itself. At last he prayed and 
waited, half expecting an answer to fall 
65 


Hira.no : A Story of a Japanese Town. 


from the sky or rise from the earth. But 
no answer came. Genski was in a misera- 
ble state of mind. Several Sundays passed 
and still the matter was unsettled. One 
evening Genski was carrying a bucket of 
water for O Uta. The little girl began 
to tell him about some very holy men. 
They were very holy, indeed; they were 
very careful as to where they stepped, so 
that they might not accidentally kill an ant, 
or anything else. They always wore fine 
netting over their mouths to keep from 
swallowing any living creature, and every 
third day they fasted. 

Genski almost dropped the bucket. A 
way out of his difficulties! For several 
days, whenever he could get a little leisure, 
he studied the matter over. At length he 
went to his master and said: 

“I want you to keep back one-seventh of 
my wages at the end of each month, and 
every Sunday I am going to do without 
anything to eat.” 


66 


The God Who Cares for Poor People . 

Baba San was startled. Evidently Gen- 
ski was crazy, or else a fox had bewitched 
him. 

“I want to become a Christian,” con- 
tinued Genski, “but if I do, I must not 
work on Sundays. As you give me my 
rice every day and fifty cents a month, I 
thought perhaps you would let me off if 
I starved on Sundays and gave up the 
money you pay me for my seventh day’s 
work. Please let me do this; please let 
me become a Christian.” 

Genski’s master was kind-hearted, and 
he hated to see Genski make himself lower 
or poorer than he already was. So he ar- 
gued with him about the matter. But Gen- 
ski was fixed in his mind. At last Baba 
San agreed to let him rest on Sundays on 
these terms. Thus it came about that Gen- 
ski, the poor coolie, became a candidate for 
admission into the church of those who 
worship the God who cares for poor people. 


67 


CHAPTER XI. 


AN IDOL ON ITS TRAVELS. 

O Uta San was playing with Hara San. 
They had drawn a chain of nine circles, 
and O Uta was busy kicking a broken tile 
from one circle to the next, when the Oji 
San passed. He stopped to watch the chil- 
dren play. O Uta San kicked her tile to 
the end of the chain, and then began to 
kick it back again, two circles at a time. 
Two circles at a time was followed by three, 
and three at a time by four. At last, a 
little too much vigor, and the tile shot out 
of the row of circles. Now it was Hara 
San’s turn. When she began, she kicked her 
stone so hard that it shot from the first to 
the third circle, and so she had to retire 
while O Uta San tried once more. 

The Oji San moved away, thinking about 
what the evangelist had said concerning 
Jesus; how he gathered the children around 
68 


An Idol on Its Travels. 

him and laid his hands on their heads and 
blessed them. The old man was more con- 
vinced of the truth of Christianity than 
he was willing to admit. Many things 
were at work undermining his faith in the 
old gods. One of the priests at the large 
Buddhist temple at the end of the town 
had stolen some money some time ago, and 
had just been sent to jail for it. It was 
impossible to deny that the evangelist be- 
haved himself very kindly toward everyone. 
His kindness to the children especially won 
the heart of the old man. The Oji San 
had learned to-day for the first time about 
a Christian orphanage. An old friend from 
the city of Okayama had come to visit him, 
and only an hour ago had been telling the 
Oji San about the good work the Chris- 
tians were doing in taking poor orphan 
children and making good, patriotic citi- 
zens out of them. Besides all this, Mr. 
Walters had preached a sermon on idols, 
and had given out some tracts on idolatry, 
which, together, were causing the old man 
69 





An Idol on Its Travels. 

to wonder if, after all, the Christians might 
not be right about there being only one 
true God. 

He walked slowly on, into the country. 
He met two traveling priests, one of whom 
bore a shrine with idols in it on his back; 
but he did not pause to worship, though 
he gave the priests a small coin. He paused 
and looked around him. A pale blue sky 
was over his head. The clouds near the 
horizon in the south were fringed with 
a light yellow, while the mountains before 
his eyes were clothed in a purple haze. 
A picturesque, straw-thatched farmhouse 
stood at his right. Out in the yard, amid a 
pile of straw, worked a farmer. The rice 
fields, little odd shaped patches from 
twenty to fifty yards in diameter, made the 
foreground in the picture which filled his 
eyes. “Utsukushi !” (Beautiful!) said the 
old man. Then he noticed a man, whose 
back was turned to him, busy doing some- 
thing. Curious to know what it could be, 
the old man walked down the road to a 
71 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

nearer place, and began some polite in- 
quiries as to Yama San’s health and that 
of his family. 

“You are taking a long walk to-day, Oji 
San,” remarked Yama San. 

“Yes, quite a long walk. I am better 
than usual,” replied the Oji San, forgetting 
what it was he had intended to ask Yama 
San. 

“Do you think we are going to have good 
weather from now on, Oji San?” 

“Yes, it will be better weather from now. 
What are you doing with all that straw?” 

“We used to have a little stone god in 
the corner there, but it disappeared two or 
three days ago. I thought this morning 
that I had better make a god to watch 
over this work and to take care of the place, 
so I made a god out of some of the straw 
and I have been using the rest of the straw 
to make a shrine for him.” 

The Oji San squatted down on the 
ground beside the farmer to rest, and both 
men got out their little pipes to have a 
72 


An Idol on Us Travels. 

smoke. While they were smoking and talk- 
ing, they did not notice the little blaze 
which was creeping away from the spot 
where the ashes of one of the pipes had 
been knocked out in order to make room 
for fresh tobacco. The men smoked on 
and talked about many things. Yama San 
cleaned his pipe, put it in its pouch, yawned, 
stretched himself, got up, and turned 
around. Fire! Oji San jumped up as 
quickly as his stiff old legs could move. 
The half finished straw shrine and the 
straw idol were tumbling down in flames. 
Before any water could be brought, there 
was nothing but a pile of black and smoking 
ashes where the image had stood. 

“Now that the god is burned up, I have 
nothing left to keep the house from burn- 
ing down,” said Yama San. 

The Oji San condoled with him greatly 
upon the unfortunate accident, but when 
he found himself on the way back to town 
he could not help thinking about the help- 
lessness of the idol — even unable to care 
73 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

for itself. He remembered that the den- 
doshi had told of a farmer making a good 
scarecrow, yet in a few days the crows 
found out that it was nothing but a scare- 
crow, and perched on its arms, shoulders 
and head, eating the grain around it. In 
telling the difference between the living and 
what has no life, were men greater fools 
than the crows? 

The old man was nearly home. He 
stopped and watched the boys at their 
game of betta. A few yards away a snake 
was wriggling across the street. Gen saw 
it, and began to call out, “Snake! snake!” 
and point at the snake with his forefinger. 

Taro caught Gen’s hand and bent down 
the stretched out finger, and exclaimed, 
“Gen, your finger will drop off, surely. 
What made you point at a snake with your 
finger ?” 

“I forgot,” said Gen, shamefacedly. “I 
do hope it won’t drop off this time. It 
wasn’t a very big snake I pointed at.” 

The Oji San left the boys and went on 
74 


An Idol on Its Travels. 

to his house. That evening his son, Jutaro, 
told him about the discovery of a new idol 
at the farther end of the town. Nobody 
could tell where it had come from. It was 
an image of Shaka Sama, and some said that 
it must have come over in the night from 
Korea. Wherever it had come from, it 
was certain that quite a miracle had been 
wrought. When the old man heard this 
news, his conscience began to trouble him, 
first, because he had doubted the power 
of the idols; then it began to smite him 
for believing in those very idols ; until at 
length he became quite angry with himself 
for being so unreasonable. Several days 
passed. 

Quite a little sensation was caused by 
the discovery of the idol. Some of the 
people made presents of money, and in a 
little time a new shrine was built over 
the spot where the idol had been found. 
On each side of the shrine poles were stuck 
in the ground, and on top of the poles were 
nailed tablets, on which were inscribed the 
75 


Htra.no : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

different amounts of money given for the 
erection of the shrine, and the names of 
the givers. 

The new shrine gave every evidence of 
becoming a popular worshiping place. 
One evening Jutaro was evidently amused 
about something. At last he said: “Oji 
San, you remember that new idol which 
appeared in town ? I know now where 
it came from. I overheard Taro, Gen and 
a lot of other boys talking about it. It 
seems that a few nights ago some boys 
stole one of the stone idols out of the cor- 
ner of Yama San’s yard and carried it to 
the north end of Hirano, and left it on 
that lot where it was found. The boys are 
very proud that they have made such a 
sensation. But they are afraid to tell what 
they did for fear they might be punished.” 

76 


CHAPTER XII 
his father's gods. 

Taro got in late, with a dirty face which 
he didn’t want to wash before he went to 
bed. His mother told him once more the 
same thing which she had told him so many 
times before, that when he was dreaming 
his spirit left his body, and was really in 
the place he was dreaming of, doing the 
things which he would afterward remem- 
ber doing in his dream. When his spirit 
came back from a dream, if his face- was 
dirty, his spirit wouldn’t go back into his 
body. They would find his cold corpse 
lying under the futons in the morning. 

He was so sleepy he wished to take the 
chance of dying during the night, but his 
mother would not allow him to go to bed 
dirty-faced; so his face was washed, and 
the dirty water thrown away. 


Hira.no : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

When Taro asked his mother why she al- 
ways threw the dirty water away, she told 
him that if, when they were all asleep, their 
spirits became thirsty during the night, the 
thirsty spirits would leave their bodies and 
go and drink the nearest water they could 
find. So they must always have some clean 
water in the house for their own spirits to 
drink, and allow no dirty water to be near 
them. 

The next morning Taro was all excite- 
ment in telling about an excursion which 
the whole school was going to make to 
Osaka. It was going to be fine. They 
must all wear their caps and uniforms, 
and though the trip was still two weeks off, 
he wanted his mother to get out his clothes 
right away. 

It was this same day, after the Sunday 
school, that the Oji San told Wasa San 
that he wished to become a Christian. He 
did not believe in idols any longer. The 
dendoshi gave him a little book, entitled 
“The Three Principles of Christianity,” 
78 


His Father's Gods ♦ 

and told him to study it carefully. This 
same day Banno San attended the meeting 
and made himself known as a baptized 
Christian. The children, too, did exceed- 
ingly well in the Sunday school. O Uta 
and some of the other girls showed a very 
intelligent understanding of the lesson. It 
was a happy day to the evangelist. 

The next Sunday, Taro and Gen were 
the only boys present, and they were very 
restless and inattentive during the lesson. 
Wasa San thought there must be something 
the matter. By and by, by means of his 
questions, he learned that one of the teach- 
ers in the public school had been warning 
the scholars against Christianity. He had 
told the boys that it would make them 
cowards and weak like the girls if they be- 
came Christians. They would never make 
brave soldiers ; they wcruld be unpatriotic, 
and they wouldn’t obey their parents, if they 
learned this foreign religion. Said the 
teacher to the boys: “Loyalty and filial 
piety in a man are like the two wings to 
79 


Hira.no : A Story of a. Japanese Town. 

a bird. It is on them that our country 
rests. Your first duty is to the Emperor. 
Make this your mind : Our duty as weighty 
as the mountains, our lives as light as the 
dust. You must remember also your duty 
to your parents. You must always obey 
them. You must remember how they love 
you. The love of parents for their chil- 
dren is higher than the mountains and 
deeper than the ocean. Nobody can meas- 
ure their love, it is so great. But this Chris- 
tian religion is unfilial and unpatriotic.” 
Then he hinted that any who attended Sun- 
day school would have their grades marked 
down. 

“Are you going to tell the teacher that 
you came to Sunday school?” asked Wasa 
San. 

“No sir! no sir! We are going to tell 
him that we haven’t been near the Sunday 
school.” 

The Oji San declared that afternoon to 
the evangelist that he wished to become 
a Christian. So it came about that the old 
80 


His Father's Gods . 

man’s name was written down as a candi- 
date for baptism. He was asked if he 
would give up his idols. He certainly 
would. He understood that if he wor- 
shiped Jehovah he could not worship any 
other god. But when the Oji San returned 
to his home that evening, he did not find 
giving up his idols so easy a matter as he 
had thought it would be. The time for the 
evening offerings came. He hesitated. He 
was ashamed to confess his belief in Christ, 
when only a few months before he had said 
so much against Christianity. What if 
Christianity were a mistake after all, and 
if he were putting away real gods who 
would take vengeance on him for his faith- 
lessness? The Oji San decided to make a 
compromise. He would make only half the 
usual food offering and he would use very 
small candles. This compromise was not 
satisfactory. After a few days’ trial he 
came to the conclusion that he must give 
up his idols altogether. After putting the 
matter off several times, he set Friday eve- 
81 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

ning as the time when he would give up 
his idols forever. Friday evening came 
and he lit the candles and made his food 
offerings to the idols for the last time. As 
he gazed at them an inexpressible feeling 
filled him, as if he were breaking with life- 
long friends. 

He took the idols, one by one, off the 
god-shelf, where they had presided so long, 
and, wrapping each up in a yellow cloth, 
he laid them tenderly away in a safe 
drawer. As the days passed away the Oji 
San was happy in his newly-found Savior 
and God. Yet at times the memories of 
the past would flood his mind, and, yielding 
to the impulse of the moment, he would 
bring out his old idols and fondly handle 
them over, then lay them carefully away. 

His son did not object to his father be- 
coming a Christian. He approved of the 
deed, but would not himself apply for bap- 
tism because there were too many things 
which he loved, but would have to give up 
if he became a Christian. 

82 


His Father's Gods* 


One evening, when looking over his 
idols, the Oji San’s old habits of reverence 
for the idols he had worshiped threescore 
years and ten came back to him. He felt 
as if it was a sacrilege to dump them into 
drawer and leave them there. Could he 
not put them on the god-shelf and leave 
them unworshiped? The idols must feel 
greatly troubled at being shut up in a 
drawer with no one to worship them. The 
old man was deeply tempted. 

Suddenly it flashed into his mind that 
he, a Christian, who had put away these 
idols forever, loved them too much, and 
that as long as he kept them they would be 
to him a temptation to go back into idolatry. 
He must do away with them. The old man 
pondered over the matter. It was too late 
at night to build a fire and burn them. He 
would throw them into the little river which 
ran through the village. He would do it 
now, so that this temptation might never 
return to him. He found a big bag, quietly 
put the idols into it, and swung it over 
83 


“ He watched them float away.”— Page 85. 







His Father's Gods . 


his shoulder. It was the middle of Febru- 
ary, near midnight. The streets were de- 
serted and silent. The moon had risen 
and lighted the path until every stone 
stood out in bold relief. He walked to the 
middle of the bridge, took the bag from 
his shoulder, and shook the idols out of 
it into the dark water below. He watched 
them float away in the moonlight. There 
was an idol his mother had worshiped con- 
tinually. It seemed as if he could almost 
make out his mother's face hovering near 
it as it disappeared. He saw, too, a larger 
idol floating away. His earliest recollec- 
tions were of his father praying to that 
image. He, too, had prayed to it seventy 
years. With it were bound up the mem- 
ories of the bitterest sorrows and the 
sweetest joys of his life. 

As he gazed into the darkness where the 
idols had gone, he saw once more those 
idols on the god-shelf, food before them, 
the candles lit, his mother in the attitude of 
prayer; his father, his hands clasped, his 
85 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 


head bowed ; he saw, too, his own little 
children kneeling before the images. He 
felt as if his own mother, his old father, 
his little children, had passed out of his life 
forever. 

At last he turned to go home. He shiv- 
ered. He had not noticed how late nor 
how cold it was. 

86 


CHAPTER XIII. 

NO MORE SUPPORT. 

O Uta was much interested in watching* 
Mr. Walters baptize Genski and the Oji 
San. She asked Wasa San many questions 
about the ordinance. What was it for? 
What did it mean? Who had a right to be 
baptized? Were children ever baptized? 

A few Sundays later she told Wasa San 
that she wanted to be baptized. “You are 
nothing but a little girl ; what do you know 
about being a Christian, or being baptized? 
People can’t become Christians until their 
hearts have been made new,” said the den- 
doshi. 

“I don’t know much about being a Chris- 
tian, but I do love Jesus, who loved the 
children,” replied the little girl. 

“I shall talk to Mr. Walters about it,” 
said the evangelist. 

Mr. Walters thought she might receive 
87 


Htra.no : A Story of a Japanese Town. 


baptism if she passed the examination and 
her parents did not object. 

How O Uta pleaded with her parents, 
and how she persuaded them to consent to 
her baptism, she did not tell. They gave 
their permission, and one bright Sunday 
morning in the early spring she was bap- 
tized. The child was as bright as a sun- 
beam that day and all the way home she 
was humming the song — 

“ Jesus loves me, this I know, 

For the Bible tells me so.” 

At home they could not help remarking 
on how cheery and happy the child was. 

O Uta came home one Sunday in tears. 

“What was the trouble?” 

“Wasa San said, when the sermon was 
ended, that the Sunday school and preach- 
ing would have to be given up. Mr. Wal- 
ters looked for money from America, but 
the mail came and the letters said that the 
money for the rent could not be sent. 
Wasa San said for us not to feel badly 
88 

L.ofC. 


No More Support . 


because a whole lot of other places were 
in the same fix, and that he was going to 
lose his own situation, too. We won’t see 
him any more, either,” sobbed the little 
girl. 

It was as the child had reported. Banno 
San, the Oji San, and Genski formed them- 
selves into a comfort society, to comfort 
and help each other. They told O Uta that 
if she wished to, she might meet with them 
sometimes. 

All the children, like O Uta, were much 
distressed. However, children’s sorrows 
quickly flee. They were soon as merry as 
ever. The Sunday school and the sermons 
were gone, but in O Uta’s memory they 
were still as real as they had been. She 
seemed to grow brighter, until her name 
might well have been changed to Sunbeam. 
At school, at home, everywhere, her laugh- 
ing black eyes and the sound of her cheery 
voice did good to many hearts. 

Sometimes, just before the sun sinks in 
the West, he paints the clouds around him 
89 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

with the brightest colors and passes from 
sight in a mass of glory. Sometimes those 
who are best loved when they silently, and 
perhaps unconsciously, begin to near the 
boundary between this world and the next 
display a brightness and joy they had not 
shown before. 

So it was with O Uta San during those 
days of peace before it was known that a 
wasting disease had laid its hands on her. 
She had been growing thinner, paler, but 
was so full of joy, of fun, of sparkling 
brightness that no one thought of calling 
the doctor until she was lying under the 
blue futons, unable to rise. Then her father 
took her up from her bed on the floor, 
wrapped a futon around her, put the little 
girl on his back, and carried her to the 
doctor. He examined her and prescribed 
for her what he thought was good. As the 
days slowly grew into weeks, the little girl 
grew still thinner and paler. But it seemed 
to her father, when he would close his 
eyes and listen to her silvery laugh and 
90 


No More Support . 


hear her happy words, as if a song bird 
from a brighter, merrier world had come 
into his home. 

One day the doctor told her father that 
he could do nothing more for the child. 

“All I can do now is to give you some 
medicine which will keep her free from 
pain.” 

It was a cruel blow to the man and his 
wife. It seemed so hard to have to give 
her up. 

The child was happy, and, lying patiently 
on her back, would sing over and over 
again the songs she had learned in the Sun- 
day school. Two were her favorites: 

“Jesus loves me, this I know, 

For the Bible tells me so,” 

and — 

“There is a happy land, 

Far, far away.” 

“O Uta, don’t you know that you are 
going to die ?” asked her mother one day. 

“Why, mother! why should I be afraid 
to die? I’m going to God’s country.” 

91 


CHAPTER XIV. 

THE WAY TO GOD’S COUNTRY. 

One day the doctor’s medicine did not 
relieve the pain and the little girl fretted 
and was not so bright as she had been, but 
towards the evening she grew brighter once 
more. After the simple meal was over and 
the dishes had all been washed and put 
away, her mother sat down by her side. 
She noticed that O Uta was smiling, almost 
laughing. 

“What is it that makes my little girl laugh 
so?” 

“I was just thinking, mother, that may- 
be in the morning I’ll be in God’s country.” 

“Oh, O Uta, you don’t know what it 
means to die. How can your little feet go 
over the wild mountain?” 

“Don’t cry, mother, Jesus will carry me 
over the mountain to the beautiful countrv.” 

The mother was thinking of all that she 
92 


The Way to God's Country . 

had heard of the mountain of death— -of 
the narrow footpath which little feet must 
tread; of the dark forest whose pines 
cast such dreary shadows over the narrow 
track, that the children needs must carry 
tiny lights to find their way; how, if the 
wind should blow down the mountain's side 
and the little candles go out, those weary 
feet must lose the way, and wander up and 
down through the bleak forest seeking but 
never finding the path again. If, perchance, 
any make their way over the mountain, 
they are in a country half dark, where imps 
set the little fingers, meant only to handle 
toys, at rough tasks which never end. 

“Mother, don't cry. Just think, I’m go- 
ing to God’s country. It’s beautiful in 
God’s country.” 

O Uta’s mother said nothing more as she 
sat there holding her little girl’s hand. O 
Uta had fallen asleep when her father came 
in. He was an educated Japanese who had 
never troubled himself about death. If he 
had been questioned his answer would have 
93 


Hirano : A Story of a Japanese Town. 

been, “Man’s life is pitiable. It is like the 
water of a flowing stream which goes but 
never returns. Trouble and sickness are 
common to all. Eternity is oblivion and 
man’s life is a floating bubble which soon 
disappears.” Now he was face to face with 
the greatest grief he had ever known. 

His wife told him that O Uta was happy, 
that the child could not realize what it was 
to die. Baba ordered his wife not to dis- 
tress her any more than was needful. The 
woman bent over the sleeping girl once 
more and said, “She looks as if she were 
dreaming of good angels.” 

The next morning O Uta was stronger. 
There was more vigor in her voice. She 
seemed livelier than she had been, and 
spoke of all her friends and playmates. She 
told of games and pranks they had played 
together. She told about her Sunday 
school, and her teacher, and some of the 
things she had learned there. A faint hope 
began to creep into the loving hearts which 
had been beating so anxiously. But when 
94 


The Way to God's Country . 


the doctor examined her he told her parents 
that it was doubtful whether she would live 
through the day. All day the father and 
mother watched over their dying child. 

“Little daughter, you are not afraid to 
die ?” 

“No, father ; I’m going to God’s country 
where Jesus is. It is beautiful there and 
he puts his hands on the children’s heads 
and says good things to them. God’s coun- 
try is so beautiful, father, and Jesus is so 
kind to little children.” 

This was a strange way to die. Neither 
her father or mother had ever seen anything 
like it. 

In the late afternoon O Uta turned her 
face toward her mother. 

“Mother, when I’m in God’s country, 
give Hara San my big doll.” 

“Yes, child.” 

“Don’t cry, mother. I am so happy.” 

“But, little daughter, aren’t you afraid?” 

“Why no, mother. I’m going to God’s 
country. God’s country” — 

95 


Htra.no : A Story of a. Japanese Town. 


O Uta’s eyes closed and she seemed to 
fall asleep as she had done so many times 
in her mother’s arms. When they touched 
her they knew that she was in God’s coun- 
try. 

“O Kune San,” said Baba to his wife, 
“we must find some one to tell us the way 
to God’s country.” 

THE END. 

96 







































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APB 11 1903 


















































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